Archived News:
The
Lord of the Rings The Return of the King Diary #4 on GameSpot has thoughts
from Bret Robbins, lead designer on the upcoming Tolkien movie game, describing
the three types of levels they are creating, and the challenge of recreating the
scope of the movies. Also, RPG
Vault's City of Heroes Diary, Volume 4 is online, penned by Jack
"Statesman" Emmert, lead designer on Cryptic Studios' upcoming
superhero MMORPG. In this installment, Jack provides the third part of his
discussion of Origins, Levels, and Classes, describing efforts at creating a
system of advancement that makes sense in the context of superpowers.
- TRIBES Vengeance
There's a
TRIBES Vengeance Q&A on Gamesradar.com talking with Ken Levine of
Irrational Games about the upcoming installment in the TRIBES series of
multiplayer shooters. Topics include Irrational's history, the story, the
timeline, solo play, and more. Thanks Frans.
- Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
The Freedom
Force vs. the Third Reich Q&A on GameSpot talks with Jonathan Chey
of Irrational Games about the upcoming sequel that will take the superhero
action of Freedom Force into the action of World War II.
- D&D Online
There's a
Dungeons & Dragons Online Q&A on Dungeons & Dragons Warcry
that poses some questions to the developers at Turbine about progress on the
upcoming MMORPG, and the pressure this group of hardcore D&D geeks is
placing on themselves to live up to the pen & paper original.
- Homeplanet Add-on
The Homeplanet
Add-on Q&A on Gamer's Hell talks with Michael Zubik, project leader
on the upcoming multiplayer add-on for Homeplanet, 3Map Games' upcoming
space sim that's already available in Russia.
An update is now available for Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, NovaLogic's
tactical shooter set in Somalia. The new version 1.3.0.37, which adds
enhancements and new features in addition to fixing bugs, is available via the
in-game automatic update function, or as a manual download from this
page. Thanks HomeLAN
Fed.
A new version 2.8 of Firearms Half-Life
is now available, offering the claim with "some certainty that this is the
most balanced release of Firearms ever." Word is: "An enormous number
of bugs and exploits have once again been fixed. All the additions and changes
to the gameplay, specifically the weapon behaviour, have come together to make
this fresh and fun."
Version 1.0 of the Operation Anubis
modification for Battlefield 1942 is now available. Like the recently released
Secret Weapons of World War II add-on, this mod offers experimental and plays
"what if" with how technology might have progressed had World War II
not ended in 1945.
A post on the 3D
Realms Forums has word from Remedy that the Max Payne 2 mod tools are not
included with the shipping version of the game, but will be released separately
online, though no exact time frame for this is yet in place. Also, a post on Shacknews
has word that they have already started work on the demo, though this will have
to take a back seat to getting the console ports completed (thanks Dr. Del). If
you can stand still more Payne after all that, Computer
and Video Games' Max Payne 2 Q&A chats with Remedy's Sam Lake, writer
on both Max Payne games.
A new Silent Storm Demo is now available, offering an updated sample of Nival
Interactive's World War II strategy game. The new release is version 1.1,
featuring "minor changes that represent final features of the game like the
free camera move on enemies turns, couple of text fixes and such." The 200
MB demo can be found on the
game's official website or one of the mirrors on 3D
Downloads, 3D Gamers,
FileFront,
Gamer's
Hell, GameSpot,
GameTab, and Worthplaying.
A new movie is now available showing off gameplay from Painkiller, the upcoming
first-person shooter in the works at Polish developer People Can Fly. The 15 MB
movie featuring just over a minute of in-game footage can be found on 3D
Gamers, Filerush.com,
and Worthplaying.
A new official map pack is now available for Impossible Creatures, expanding the
gameplay possibilities in Relic's strategy game of designer genes. The map pack
adds five multiplayer maps to the game, and requires the version 1.1 patch
installed in order to operate properly. The 14 MB download can be found on Relicnews,
3D Gamers, GameSpot,
and Worthplaying.
Gathering Ships Space
Colony (thanks Frans) is the press release with news that Firefly Studios'
sci-fi management simulation has shipped to retail. Word is: "Space Colony
invites PC pioneers to establish and build cosmic settlements and manage a
dysfunctional crew of 20 characters while fighting off alien attacks and
attempting to make a profit."
Global
Star Software now offers a new patch for Mall Tycoon 2. Also, a new patch
for Top Gun: Combat Zones is now available, updating the flying combat game to version
1.1. The patch can be found on 3D
Gamers.
Uru Obsession is
reporting that Uru: Ages Beyond Myst has gone gold, and the follow-up to Cyan's
gazillion selling adventure game series is set to be released on November 11.
The report is backed-up by related stories on the Riven
Unofficial Homepage and Gigagiggles,
the blog of Cyan's Bill Slease. Thanks Gamer's
Hell.
EA Games sends word that the console versions of NBA Live 2004 have all shipped
to stores, with the PC version slated to ship on November 11. Also, the Mike
McCoy Q&A on 3DAvenue.com, creative designer/director on Rainbow Six 3
for the Xbox.
Epic
Games Announces Unreal University is the press release with word on the
inaugural session of Unreal University, "the first intensive workshop
devoted to learning how to create mods using the Unreal Game Engine." Word
is: "The university will take place on November 8-9, 2003 at North
Carolina State University, and will attract modders from across the country
who want to learn how to develop their own content using the Unreal
Technology." Also, chUmbaLum
sOft has released a new beta of MilkShape 3D (thanks Frans), and
coincidentally, ShaderWorks for
MilkShape is now available, "a replacement graphics driver for the
widely-respected low-poly 3D modeling app "MilkShape 3D" allowing the
3D viewports in MilkShape to use DirectX Vertex Shaders and Pixel Shaders for
enhanced rendering." Finally, AC3D 4.0
is now available for both Windows and Linux, a modeling program "widely
used for the creation of 3D models for games, the production of graphics and
logos, and for general 3D visualisation."
I have to make a trip to Dr. Toothy today to follow-up on that tooth I cracked a
couple of weeks ago... he says it's a minor thing, so here's hoping he's right.
On the other hand, a change in plans has taken place, and we will not be
traveling to the coast for a wedding this weekend, so today's minor interruption
is on track, but this weekend's disruption has been disrupted.
|
Twitter 
